The official enrollment total at Lick-Wilmerding High in San Francisco is 460 students. And of those, only one — Mill Valley's Andie von Eschen — crosses the Golden Gate Bridge each night to return home.

But before she heads back to Marin each night, von Eschen works on making herself stand out from the crowd in another way with the Tigers' girls cross country team. And Friday, the Lick-Wilmerding junior will have a chance to take that a step further when she tries to become the school's first Bay Counties League West girls individual champion.

To do so, von Eschen will have to top a field that includes talented runners such as University's Jennie Callan and Lizzy Teerlink, Urban's Molly Carleton, Marin Academy's Bevin McCullough and Yasmine Eichbaum and Lick-Wilmerding teammate Molly Dicke.

"It's going to be a really interesting race," von Eschen said. "There are all those schools and Jennie Callan from University will be running on her home course. I think I'm going to try to stick with her and do my best. I'm not sure really how it's going to go."

Regardless of how von Eschen performs in the league meet at Golden Gate Park, she has enjoyed a rapid climb for a runner who didn't even crack the team's varsity lineup until late in her freshman year.

"My freshman year, when I started off I think I was maybe 20th on my team," von Eschen said. "I was barely there at all. And by the end of the season, I was on varsity probably sixth or seventh depending on the race. Then by the (start of last season), that's when I started coming into my own as a runner."

"I know our girls team has followed Andie's success and progress over the years," Marin Academy coach Liz Gottlieb said. "Since Andie is so consistent in races she is often a great reference point for our top runners — as someone to gauge off of in a race."

Though von Eschen began her climb at Lick-Wilmerding last fall — she was the team's No. 1 runner for the entire season — she had the misfortune of having to retrace her steps a bit. First, she suffered a cramp during the state meet that meant a disappointing 28th-place finish in the Division V race in Fresno, with teammate Lucia Calthorpe one spot ahead of her.

"I was racing and I got the cramp and normally I can push through," von Eschen said. "But this one hurt so bad that I couldn't push through it. It was a bummer. Finishing not anywhere near where I wanted to be was disappointing."

Then, von Eschen had to deal with a stress fracture in her leg which shut her down for eight weeks during the spring track season. Hard work over the summer, however, allowed her to hold onto the top spot on the Lick-Wilmerding cross country team.

"She went through that stress fracture which cut her season short, kind of cut it off right in the middle of the season, but when she recovered from that she started training again very seriously," Lick-Wilmerding co-coach Jeff Gardiner said. "She came into the summer, did a great summer job, and now again is our No. 1 runner and really has just been a model.

"She's not as loud, she's not a talkative person, but she has been such a model for this team by how she behaves, how she trains and just generally her love of distance running."

Von Eschen concedes she has not been at her best in her team's biggest races this season — she said the heat bothered her when she ran at the Stanford and Clovis invitationals — but she nevertheless has run well. She finished behind only one runner in BCL West meets, with University's Callan edging von Eschen by two seconds.

Von Eschen said having Callan as a potential pace-setter will help.

"It's really helpful," von Eschen said. "We ran our home course at the beginning of the season and it was just our team and (BCL West rivals) Bay and Drew. And then we ran it again against University and our time was significantly faster. I know it was near the end of the season, but having someone to follow was really helpful."

Gardiner, noting that von Eschen is among his runners who have been battling illness, said he hopes she is healthy for that test.

"I don't want to make a prediction about (the BCL West meet), but if she is fully healthy, she will give Jennie a good run," Gardiner said. "I'm not sure that Andie is quite ready to knock off Jennie yet, but it should be a pretty close race."

Honor roll

Trevor Reinhart, Marin Academy: Finished the regular season on a high note, taking first place in a BCL West meet with Stuart Hall and University by covering the 2.98-mile trail at Golden Gate Park in 15 minutes, 14 seconds on Wednesday.

Chris Stapp, Terra Linda: Took first place in a meet with San Marin at O'Hair Park, covering 2.89 miles in 16:40 on Thursday.

Andy Ehrenberg, Redwood: Was first on the 3.05-mile course at San Rafael High in 16:36 in a dual meet with San Rafael on Thursday.

John Lawson, Drake: Was first on the 2.6-mile course at Bon Tempe in 14:07 in a meet with Branson and Novato on Thursday.

Dominic Lecouturier, Marin Catholic: Won the race at Camino Alto Ridge, covering 3.0 miles in 17:02 in a meet with Tam and Justin-Siena on Thursday.

Kaitlin McKeogh, Terra Linda: Was first in a dual meet with San Marin at O'Hair Park in 19:45 on Thursday.

Megan Bordes, Redwood: Won a dual meet race between Redwood and San Rafael in 20:31 at San Rafael on Thursday.

Julia Maxwell, Branson: Set a course record at Bon Tempe, winning in 15:05 in a meet with Novato and Drake on Thursday.

Bella Amyx, Tam: Was first at Camino Alto Ridge in 19:17 in a meet with Marin Catholic and Justin-Siena on Thursday.